The Silver Lining
by Krshaz
Summary: A lot can change in just ten years. Danny Fenton and Vlad Masters are no exceptions. ((Warning: Sexual Situations, Strong Language, Drug/Alcohol Abuse))
1. One

The sound of the front door to their townhouse slamming open and shut could be heard all the way upstairs where Sam sat on the bed, waiting. Every noise she heard of tables being knocked over, clumsy hard steps and loud drunken slurs, made Sam's heart nearly palpitate with anxiety and sadness. This wasn't the first time her husband stumbled home from a late night of drinking in recent days, but she knew this had to be the last. All she could do was hold back the tears and pray that Danny's loud trek upstairs to their bedroom didn't wake their daughters sleeping in their room down the hallway.

After what seemed like an eternity of anticipation, Danny finally entered the bedroom. It took several pats on the wall before he found the light switch so he could attempt to get ready for bed. However, the moment he noticed Sam was up, he spoke in a sickeningly drunk voice, " _Heeey Babe…_ You up for-jus' for me…?" Followed up by a low key laugh. It never registered in his head that she was clearly distraught. Sitting near the edge of the bed with her face hidden behind her skrillex haircut and arms around knees pulled up to her chest. No answer from Sam was the same as a yes for Danny right now and he stumbled towards the bed.

"Please, keep it down…" Sam muttered, still not wanting to look at him.

Danny only replied with a loud raspberry and a wave of his hand as he fell onto the bed beside her. This caused Sam to fall off balance and have to catch herself. Unfortunately, this meant also accidentally catching a glimpse of the full drunkenness of her husband. As Sam tried to move away from him, Danny caught her in his arms and started thoughtlessly and aggressively groping her breasts and licking at her neck. With only a nightgown on, Sam couldn't say that her body didn't love Danny's skillful foreplay, but the fact that he reeked of beer made her nearly throw up in her mouth. "Get off of me!" She snapped as she shoved him back and leapt up from the bed. "I'm not in the mood for it, Danny. If you're gonna be a jerk, go sleep on the couch tonight."

"Whatever." Danny rolled his eyes and slowly sat himself up. "You change your mind pretty fuckin' quick when my T meets the V…" With an overly confident grin, he gestured with his fingers to make a V and proceeded to lick his tongue in between.

This appalled Sam and with a wide-eyed gasp, she crossed her arms and turned her back to him. "Fuck off! Get out of here, Danny! I don't even want to look at you until you're sobered up…" Through the anger, her sadness that things even came to this was very apparent, but Danny was too drunk to notice.

Upset that he wasn't getting his way, Danny's head was spinning too hard for him to form a coherent argument with her. "Fine then. Be a bitch like that." He replied as he flipped her off and phased through the bed and floor into the downstairs to sleep on the couch for the night.

The moment he was gone, Sam let out a deep breath and trembled. Tears rolled down her cheeks and once again, she had to spend a night alone, crying herself to sleep.

The next morning, Sam forced herself out of bed and to just deal with the little sleep she had gotten, as she was used to doing at this point. A few cups of black coffee and needing to drive her daughters to school was motive enough to get going. The only thing slowing her down was the knife in her heart she felt every time she had to pass through the living room and see Danny's drunk ass blacked out on the couch. The worst was lying to her oldest daughter, Charity, about the situation and putting it simply as, "Daddy isn't feeling well, again." Being nearly six years old, the girl could pick up on something being wrong, but she was young enough to believe anything Sam had to say to sugarcoat the situation. As for their newly four year old, Angel, no explanation was needed. She simply saw her daddy asleep on the couch and accepted it as just that.

After dropping off Charity at elementary school and Angel at preschool, Sam immediately went home, hoping to be there before Danny had a chance to wake up and leave. Not only did she need the time to confront him, it also had upset her that the last time he did this, he stole money from their saving's jar before going. There was no way she would give him the opportunity to steal from their family again.

As she came in the front door, she sighed with relief that he was still on the couch asleep. All spread out, arms slung over the side, mouth wide open and snoring. There was once a time when she would have thought he looked almost adorable, but those days were over. Now that she knew she had time, this gave her a chance to make a quick sandwich and eat before she inevitably lost her appetite. Sam learned long ago to always eat before emotionally difficult conversations to avoid starving herself by accident. The last thing she needed was some ignorant jack-off calling her veganism into question again.

Time seemed to move slower as she waited for her husband to finally wake up, but when it actually happened and he began to stir, her heart nearly skipped a beat. Reacting quickly, she placed a blue folder on the coffee table parallel to the couch and sat in the arm chair adjacent. Sam clasped her hands on her folded knees and took deep breaths, preparing herself for anything. Just to make it easier on herself, she even thought to put a fresh cup of coffee, glass of water and a couple tablets of naproxen on the coffee table to greet Danny when he was conscious enough to notice.

"Shit…" Was the first thing Danny uttered as he turned over and slowly opened his eyes, though as he did, he needed to shield them with his hand from the sunlight coming in through the window. "Does it have to be so fucking bright in here?" He asked as he sat himself up and noticed Sam sitting in the chair beside him. The next thing to come into his focus was the water, coffee and pain killers. Without hesitation, he grabbed up the naproxen and the glass of water. "Oh my God, thank you." He added before swallowing down the pills. "My head is fucking pounding…" Danny started massaging his temples.

"I'm sure it is after last night. Let me guess, you had too much beer again?" Sam spoke with a distant, cynical tone. As well as not looking at him directly.

Danny was able to pick up on this and frowned. "What's up with the attitude all of a sudden?"

Sam finally looked at him, her saddened eyes and disconnected disposition meeting with his look of defensive confusion. "Danny, we need to talk and we need to talk now." It took all of her courage, but she managed to keep a stern tone to show the seriousness of the situation.

"Seriously? Right now?" Danny muttered as if it were just another inconvenience as he glanced down at the coffee table. It was when he picked up the coffee mug to take a drink that he noticed the folder. "What's that?" He asked before taking a drink.

"You'll see…" Sam replied. It was at this time, she pulled off her wedding ring and placed in on the table.

Even more confused, Danny glanced at the ring, then to Sam and finally back to the folder. After putting the coffee back on the table, he quickly grabbed the folder and opened it. Once laying eyes on the contents however, he stood up and threw it back down on the table, revealing legal documents. "You're divorcing me?!" He snapped loudly at her, making her flinch. "What the fuck, Sam?!"

Gathering up her courage, she spoke up. "You're not giving me a choice! I can't take you anymore!" This was followed by a long pause. Danny had never expected to hear that from his wife. The woman he'd loved since high school. The woman he'd had two children with. With a tear escaping and ruining her eyeliner, Sam continued. "It was one thing when you needed some time to yourself a year ago to deal with the accident, but you've only gotten worse. I didn't get angry when you quit your job so you could take time off to grieve. I didn't even get angry when you started occasionally drinking. But now it's like you don't even care about us anymore. All you do is ghost around with friends, party with teenagers, get smashed and…" Sam pulled out her phone and looked for something to show him, but muttered as she did. "...a friend of mine from the poetry club sent me these…" More tears escaped as she stood and handed Danny her phone, showing pictures of him at several raves and parties, having oral sex with various women and men. "You're cheating on me, too?"

Looking through the pictures and hearing Sam begin to cry as she sat back in the chair made Danny feel like literal shit. What was worse, he barely remembered any of these, although could recall enough to believe what he was seeing. "I'm sorry… but it's hard not to start playing the field when the spark in your relationship bites the dust..." He said, handing her back her phone, shamefully. "So this is real, then?" He asked in a serious, yet calm tone as he sat back down. "You're _really_ ready to end it? Split our _family_ apart? Have you even _thought_ about how this will make the girls feel?"

Sam glared at him through the tears. "Don't you dare try to manipulate me, Danny. I'm doing this because I love them and they deserve better than a dad who's never around and when he is, he's drunk and making me upset. You have no fucking idea how tired I am of lying and making up excuses about you just to keep them from realizing just how bad it is between us. I shouldn't have to subject my daughters to this and I refuse to keep doing so! I don't want them growing up to think that it's okay to be in a relationship with an irresponsible fuck-boy like you!"

"You mean growing up to be with a super hero? You don't want them with someone who saved the whole fucking planet?" Once again, Danny became defensive. "Last time I checked, there's a fucking dedication statue to me in every God damn country. Charity and Angel couldn't ask for a better role model in their life." As he grew more and more angry with the situation, Danny aggressively grabbed the pen from the folder and signed his part of the divorce papers, followed by pulling off his own wedding ring and throwing it on the table. "I hope you're really fucking happy now, Sam Manson." Danny insultingly called her by her maiden name as he stood and headed for the door.

Sam hurt worse than she ever had before, but she quickly stood and called to Danny. "You're not even going to stay and say goodbye to them when they come home from school?! Are you even coming back at all?"

"Just make something up. You're good at lying to them apparently? I don't know if I'll ever come back. Don't fucking follow me if you know what's good for you." That said, Danny went ghost and flew out of the home, needing to get as far away as possible from Sam before he did something he'd regret.


	2. Two

The fight with Sam left Danny feeling bitter inside. It almost didn't feel real. Even if they hadn't been very close lately, he never thought he would be divorced. Were things really over? What would Charity and Angel think of him? Was his life really just going to be a downward spiral of one loss after another? This was too much, all he wanted to do was escape back into the bliss of alcohol and forget about everything. He needed somewhere to stay while he drank his problems away, though. Somewhere quiet and far away where he could just do whatever he wanted. Somewhere like an abandoned mansion in Wisconsin sounded fine for now and lucky for him there was just such a place he knew of.

Getting to Wisconsin from Amity Park was annoyingly long and he wished he could have just used the ghost portal. His first reason for not being able to was because the different gravity of the Ghost Zone didn't mix well with a hangover. The second reason, because he assumed that since the mansion had been abandoned, it obviously had its power shut off. So the portal would just be useless anyway. Even in ghost form and after strong pain killers, he could still feel the hangover. This made it difficult for him to see anything in the broad daylight as he flew toward his destination.

It was night by the time he finally reached the mansion. "I can't believe he rebuilt this _again_ and didn't even live in it?" Danny muttered, standing outside and takin in the sight. This home was a testament to Vlad's stubbornness. The outer appearance of the mansion was dark and dreary. The perfect place to crash and sulk his problems away. "Maybe I'll throw a house warming party or something…?" He shrugged and floated back up. Then, turning invisible he flew into the mansion to see the condition of the inside. Inside was even more depressing. Every inch of the home was covered in cobwebs and dust. It had the appearance of a haunted house, but this didn't bother Danny in the least. If anything, this was perfect. A home to reflect exactly the way he felt inside himself.

Floating from one room to another, Danny scoped out the place to get an idea of the layout. One of the first places he checked out was the upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms. When he found the master bedroom, it was large and he thought it would work perfectly for himself. The only thing that concerned him was that the bed looked like it had been used. Danny went to inspect the bed closer when his ghost sense caught him by surprise. "I wonder who else is crashing here?" He asked himself as he floated and phased through the mansion to find whoever was with him.

Room by room, there was nothing to be found and no sign of anyone, but his ghost sense told him otherwise. Danny even checked all the way down to Vlad's old, not-so-secret, lab. However, the lab did have the highest concentration of energy, so he figured whoever it was, they were just afraid and hiding from him. "Hey! Whoever's here! You're totally fine, bro!" Danny spoke loudly with a smirk. "You know I don't fight you guys anymore. I'm just gonna crash here for a while to get away from my bitch Ex. You can keep the master bedroom upstairs. There's plenty of rooms in this stupid place anyway. I'm going out, but if you wanna chill and get trashed with me when I get back, it's cool." After glancing around the lab one more time, it was apparent they weren't going to reveal themselves yet, so Danny shrugged and floated up through the ceiling.

Flying through the night sky, Danny found his way to the nearest town and found a bank with a 24 hour ATM. He landed and shifted back to his human self. Without remorse, he pulled out his wallet and used the bank card he stole from Sam and withdrew about $120. Enough to get him by for now. The town he found was small and all of the main buildings seemed to be concentrated on one street. Main St. of course. Stepping away from the ATM, he looked up and down the street and at the very end of the road was a gas station still open. It would have to do for now. That was where Danny headed next, hoping to find some strong alcohol. After the day he had, beer wasn't going to be enough this time.

Unfortunately, in the store, the only liquor they had was watered down, cheap vodka. Danny groaned and looked across the empty store to the worker. "Is this seriously all you have?" He asked. The cashier didn't humor the question and tried to look busy. She was used to getting creeps and drunks on the night shift. Without an answer, Danny sighed and grabbed the biggest bottle of vodka they had and went over to the counter. "Your selection fucking sucks…" He muttered as it was rung up.

"I don't control what we stock here, sir. This is a small town and I'm just an employee. I don't know what you expected?" She replied to him in monotone. "That'll be $16.75."

"You're lucky I didn't just steal it for that much… $17 for backwash bullshit." Danny complained as he paid for the alcohol.

She handed him his change quickly and frowned. "Have a nice night, sir. Please leave?"

Danny flipped the girl the bird and left the gas station with his bottle in hand. It wasn't even a glass bottle. It was in plastic and it made him feel cheap. Going ghost and invisible, he quickly headed back to the mansion to just drink, relax and see if whoever was there wanted to hang out.

When he got back, the first thing he did was open the vodka and take a few big swigs from it. At first, he had a gag reflex and cursed how bad it tasted, but with a deep breath, he controlled the feeling and started taking drinks from the bottle regularly. On his way down to the basement and the lab, he noticed more things had been moved and touched than he originally thought. Obviously, whoever was here had been here for a little while and he knew they were still there. His ghost sense wasn't wrong.

Never would he have guessed that he would see what he saw next. When he phased into the lab, unaware of his presence, was a very aged Vlad Plasmius, slowly pouring a pink liquid into a beaker. Danny was intrigued, but surprisingly not threatened. It was just very much unexpected to see his teenage rival back in his lab, working. It made sense now that he wanted to stay hidden. Vlad wasn't very welcome back on Earth and Danny knew all about that. Without a word, he took a seat up on a counter, pulled his knee up to his chest, leaned against the dusty wall and just observed the unaware Vlad, while drinking his vodka.

Vlad finished his careful pouring, then entered some calculations into an obviously old, pre-2008, laptop. Just as Danny questioned in his head where the power was coming from, Vlad answered that question for him. Before Vlad could finish typing, the ancient computer shut down and he cursed, "Damned generator!" As he turned around to restart the portable power source, he noticed Danny on the counter watching him and he froze in place like a deer in headlights. There was obvious dread on his face, but he quickly hid it behind a faked confident grin. "Why, Daniel… What brings you here?"

Danny nearly spit out his vodka in laughter over Vlad's reaction to seeing him, but covered his mouth and swallowed it before it had a chance to redirect to his nose. The vodka had cost too much to waste on laughing at Vlad. "You know why I'm here, dumb-fuck. Just finish whatever you're making. I've gotta see what this shit is." He said with amusement and took another drink after calming down.

 _"What…?"_ Vlad raised an eyebrow and was honestly confused. "Are you really Danny Fenton or am I being pestered by a shape-shifter of sorts?"

Going ghost, Danny casually waved a hand over his body in display. "I'm the one and only."

Leaving the beaker and the laptop on the other side of the lab, Vlad stormed over to Danny and got up in his face with a glare. "Get out!"

"If you're gonna get that close to me, either make out with me or fuck off? I ain't going anywhere." Danny gave a cocky grin and started sucking on the end of the vodka bottle teasingly. The alcohol was getting to his head quicker than he thought it would since he neglected to eat the entire day. Vlad reacted to this by trying to punch Danny in the face. Danny went invisible however, and laughed again when Vlad instead hit his hand on the hard wall and yelped in pain. "Dude, just finish whatever you were working on. I don't give two shits what you do anymore. You know what will happen if anyone finds you back on Earth, anyway. You're such a dumbass."

"Shut up! Since when do you speak to your elders like that?" Vlad asked, changing to his human form and rubbed his hand. "If you don't care, then you won't mind me making a youth serum to use on myself and your mother? I bet Maddie will run away with me then?" With a smirk, he thought he once again had the upper hand by lying to get under Danny's skin.

"Yeah, you're a dumbass." Danny appeared next to the generator and got it started again to help Vlad finish it sooner. "I'd love to see you actually come up with a good idea to get my mom that doesn't include being murdered by the human and ghost races when they find out you're back. Your lying has either gotten worse or I'm just too old to fall for your special variety of bullshit?"

"If I kill you, they won't find out…" Vlad muttered, not expecting Danny to start the generator for him. In actuality, it really helped since not only had he just hurt his hand, but also because space and old age had weakened him. Pulling the string to restart the motor would have been very difficult.

Danny went human too and gestured with his hand for Vlad to try while he drank more vodka.

Vlad watched the mess of a young man and almost pitied him for a moment. "So… you don't care?"

"Not really." He said blankly between drinks.

"You, Daniel, the great hero of Earth? You're willing to just let the bad guy get away with his evil plans?" Vlad questioned in disbelief.

"Dude, I just got divorced, and who knows when I'll see my kids again? Trust me Vlad, I couldn't possibly give less of a fuck than I do right now about your latest failed experiment." Danny replied, walking past Vlad and sat back in his original position on the counter to watch this plan inevitably blow back up in Vlad's face like his plans often did.

Vlad frowned, but was relieved all at the same time. "Sorry to hear about that, Daniel." He said gently, then headed back to his computer and finished inputting the information from before. "Well… since you're not stopping me, I'll tell you what I'm actually working on. I was lying about using this on Maddie, tempting as it may be. You see, time alone in the vastness of space made me long for a second chance at life. This serum will alter my DNA, taking me back to my twenties and give me an even more devilishly attractive appearance. At least, that is what my calculations tell me and you're here to witness the finished product. I'll finally be able to live on Earth again without fear of being hunted." A faint smile of hope crossed his lips after saying this.

Danny rose his bottle in a toast. "Power to'ya, you old fucking fruit loop."

"Thank you… I suppose?" Vlad awkwardly went back to his work, trying to ignore the fact that his arch enemy was watching as if he were putting on a show. Eventually, Vlad finished his calculations and finally drew the serum into a syringe. "Now is the moment of truth." Vlad exclaimed with a deep breath as he pressed the needle into the back of his neck. Thus, painfully delivering it to his central nervous system, via spinal cord. With a groan, he injected the entire thing and pulled the needle out quickly. It took a moment to have an effect, but when it did, it was like electricity running through his entire body. "Yes… I feel myself changing…" Vlad muttered as he fell to his knees, trying to fight through the growing pain as long as possible so he wouldn't pass out from it.

Though now drunk, Danny sat up and watched carefully. This process was obviously very painful, despite Vlad's attempt to will himself through it. After so long of this, Vlad was on the ground in a fetal position, yelling out in agony as his DNA was changed and altered. Danny watched Vlad's larger frame slightly shrink in size. His sliver hair glistened and his skin tightened with youth. The experiment was working, however, the sound of cracking bones made Danny shutter. Vlad's body wasn't finished changing at just a youthful appearance. It was far more complicated than that.

When it was finished, Danny stood, but had to lean against the counter from the alcohol. "Dude, you alright?!" He called to Vlad.

With a soft groan, Vlad tried to move, face covered by long white-silver hair. "Yeah, I'm-" A gentle voice muttered, but stopped in sheer horror of the sound. Becoming frantic and after vigorous body feeling, Vlad suddenly screamed and looked at Danny who couldn't believe his eyes. Not only had the experiment been a success, but it had failed as well, turning Vlad into a young woman. "NO! NO! NO!" She shouted, struggling to get to her feet. Her clothes were now too big and without warning, her top slipped down her shoulder, showing a glimpse of her breast. Quickly, she took hold of her pants to keep them from falling and held the shirt tightly closed. Feeling mortified, shamed and embarrassed, Vlad went invisible and left the lab.

Danny was so shocked, but so amused at the situation he began laughing hard enough that he fell to his knees and threw up vodka all over the floor.


	3. Three

"You fool…" Red eyes glared angrily at the reflection in the bathroom. Since the experiment, Vlad had simply stared at the feminine form in the mirror for a few hours straight. Vlad had stripped down naked, felt utter disgust as he looked over every new curve that he'd never wanted. Breasts felt alien and the lack of a penis was a deep blow to his masculinity. "Danny was right…" Vlad leaned forward onto the counter and looked away for a moment before looking back up and staring himself in the face. "You're a fool and you deserve this. You're everyone's fool…" Pink ectoplasmic energy gathered at the tip of his finger as he held it up to head, as if it were a gun. In a moment of weakness, ending this struggle he called a life seemed so appealing. To just end the torment of loneliness and inevitable failure.

Snapping out of it with a scream, "I hate you!" Vlad forced himself to not do it and instead punch the mirror, shattering the glass. A shard cut into his hand and he let out a cry of pain. There was no running water, but luckily the cut wasn't very deep. Running back into the master bedroom, Vlad looked around and settled on a very thin bed sheet. He ripped off some of the fabric and wrapped it around his hand to stop the bleeding. As he did, suddenly, he became inspired with a desperate idea. Vlad ripped away a larger strip from the sheet and brought it back into the bathroom. Very carefully, he tightly wrapped it around his chest and successfully flattened down his breasts. It wasn't the best job he could have done, but somehow seeing them hidden from view filled him with just enough relief to not kill himself.

With how very uncomfortable the binding was and how ridiculous it felt to wear it, Vlad took a deep breath and fought back the coming tears. A lump filled his throat as he left the bathroom again to rummage through the old dressers and closet to fine something, anything, to wear that would make him feel more like himself. Unfortunately, the only thing he could find that still fit were a couple of Wisconsin University t-shirts from his college days, a few pairs of blue jeans and some dirty old shoes, that had been sealed up in a cardboard box in his closet. "I never knew why I held onto these things, but I'm glad I did." He spoke softly to himself. As he looked through the clothes, in the bottom of the box were pictures of himself, Jack and Maddie all hanging out together. It only took one glance to see the three of them smiling together as friends for Vlad to grab the clothes, close the box and run out of the closet. His body trembled and the tears couldn't be stopped as his mind flashed from the happy faces in the photos to the utter betrayal and disappointment on Jack's face as he abandoned him in space.

Vlad had to sit for a moment on the edge of the bed, wiping away the tears with his good hand while trying to get a grip on himself. When he was finally able to calm down, he proceeded to put the clothes on and go back into the bathroom to see how it looked. The shattered mirror reflected the shattered image of a shattered soul and Vlad had to turn away for a moment and take a deep breath. When he could look back, he leaned in close and wished it wouldn't look obvious if he drew a beautifully trimmed beard back onto his strong chin. It was one of the features he missed the most about himself. Now his chin was just bare, soft and not suave or manly at all. While looking over himself in the old college clothes, Vlad was very much aware of how attractive he was as a woman, but it didn't feel right. _This_ wasn't what he wanted, this wasn't _his_ body anymore. While playing with his even longer now, white-silver hair, he moved the ponytail to his shoulder and could at least enjoy the way that looked. Long hair pulled back had been his favorite style for a while now anyway. "At least no one will recognize you?" He muttered to himself in a very melancholy tone with the best fake smile he could muster up.

Once again, Vlad became trapped staring into his reflection, but this time was cut off by a loud growl from his stomach. Although he hadn't had much of an appetite, he accepted a while ago that with youth came a more active metabolism and skipping meals would be more difficult. Besides, if he didn't try to come down off of this depression and take care of himself, he'd never have the energy to get back to work in the lab and figure out what went wrong with the experiment. With an overly exaggerated sigh, Vlad went invisible and phased downstairs to get to the pantry.

Opening the pantry door, Vlad knew he had at least one bag of chips left in his food stash, but unfortunately, Danny had beaten him to it. "Hey!" He snapped, but quickly felt embarrassed by his feminine voice and covered his mouth.

Danny was sitting on the floor of the small room, crunching on the last bit of chips in the bag. "Sup?" He asked with an amused snort at hearing Vlad speak again in that girly voice. When he looked up, he saw Vlad's sad attempt at dressing like a guy, but he wasn't mean enough to point it out. Even Danny could see that she had obviously been crying during the few hours she had disappeared and teasing her at that point would just be pouring salt in the open wound.

" _Sup?!_ " Vlad crossed his arms and frowned down at him. "I can try to tolerate you staying in _my_ mansion, but stealing my food too is just plain rude, Daniel. Do you even realize what I risk every single time I have to steal something to get by?"

"First of all, this isn't _your_ mansion anymore." Danny cut her off and finished the chips. He then crumpled the bag and threw it at Vlad in a playful way. "Second of all, if you want more, then here…" Pulling out his wallet from his back pocket, Danny handed Vlad a $20. "Go get some more, just bring me back something too. I'm gonna go take a nap." Without another word, Danny went ghost and flew upstairs to find a room to sleep in. Leaving Vlad alone, confused, irritated and hungry.

The thought of leaving the mansion again was worrisome, but he had a feeling that he could get away with being in public now and not get noticed. Being given the money was something kind he hadn't expected either from troubled youth. Dealing with an adult Daniel was definitely an alien experience for Vlad, regardless of the current circumstances. As he went ghost and flew off, he wondered to himself what had happened to make the young man so jaded. Perhaps it was just the divorce he had mentioned or maybe something more? Either way, Vlad was sympathetic about it and didn't feel the need to probe him for answers. What mattered right now, Vlad had to be brave and enter a public store to test if the youth serum at least made him unrecognizable.

Vlad knew the area well from living here for so many years. After making his way past the local town, it had only been a few minutes more of flying after that before he finally reached the nearest small city. There, he knew he'd at least be even more anonymous. It was early morning, so when he made it to the nearest superstore, it wasn't as busy as it normally was. He chose this place because he knew he could get the most for his money here. Vlad changed from ghost to human form behind a parked vehicle in the store's lot and with a deep breath, put on his confident face and walked to the doors and on inside.

This was the first time since returning to Earth that he allowed himself to be seen by anyone else, minus the incident with Daniel Fenton wandering into his laboratory. Keeping his gaze down, Vlad walked quickly and cautiously to the snacks aisle. He stuck to buying things that didn't need cooked or cooled since the mansion didn't have running water or electricity of its own. As he pressed forward, something caught his eye in his side vision that made him have to stop and look. The clothing was placed next to the food aisles and with autumn approaching, this Wisconsin store had a display full of Packers clothing and accessories in the men's section. Vlad immediately stopped what he was doing, smiled, and like a moth to a flame, had to check it out.

"Very nice…" Vlad muttered with an ever growing smile while holding up a small men's T done up in green, gold and footballs. Seeing only $5 on the price tag, Vlad couldn't resist and decided Daniel could deal with it. After the night he had, this was exactly what he needed. Spoiling himself.

"Getting that for your boyfriend?" Came the voice of an elderly woman seemingly from nowhere.

This had startled Vlad, but thinking quickly, he replied in the kindest way possible, "No... This is for me actually. They're my favorite team, so-"

"They have shirts out for the girl fans too. They're over there." She had cut Vlad off and pointed to the girls section where nearly everything was in pink and feminine enough to make Vlad want to vomit.

Vlad was irritated by this and replied firmly, but calmly. "I don't like the girl clothing and I don't like being a girl, so please leave me alone?"

The woman made Vlad uncomfortable as she stared up and down the clearly feminine form in front of her, then shook her head. "Don't fight what God gave you, dear. With looks and youth like yours, you could have boys trying to kill each other over you. Wouldn't that make you feel special?"

Without looking at her and instead, looking through the clothing, Vlad replied coldly. "If I were still a sociopathic mess, then yes, I would have loved to watch blood shed for my approval, but sadly life has a way of putting one in their place. Something I'm sure an old bag like you would understand?" Vlad paused, needing to focus his energy on holding back the urge to go ghost and throw this woman. "God had nothing to do with making me what I am. If He had, I wouldn't hesitate to hunt him down and kill him for turning my life into a joke. Now please, could you just go away and leave me the fuck alone?!"

"Well?!" The woman gasped at being told off and turned away from him. "Packers are a shit team anyway…" She said under her breath as she quickly walked away.

Vlad was steaming with anger and if it weren't for someone putting a hand on his shoulder, he wouldn't have been able to hold back this time. Insulting the Packers was just adding insult to injury. "What?!" He asked as he turned to see who was bothering him now. This time, it was a tall, strongly-built, butchy looking woman with an employee nametag that read, Chelsea.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you. It's just that, I overheard what happened and I wanted to say thanks. That woman comes in here and bothers me about how I dress too. If I didn't need this job, I would tell her off like that too, so… thanks, again." The woman smiled timidly and fixed her glasses.

Vlad had to close his eyes and just breathe for a moment. Remaining calm was the key to keeping his identity safe. Female or not, Plasmius would be easily recognized. "Don't thank me, she's lucky I'm forced to hold back my temper or things may have turned out differently. Never insult a man's team to his face. Especially if that man is me."

"I totally understand. By the way, my name is Chester. I know the nametag says otherwise, but I'm a transman too. This area is so backwards, I never thought I'd meet someone like myself. What's your name?" He asked with a growing smile.

It honestly took Vlad a moment to remember what transman meant, but when he did, he confidently smiled back and answered, "Oh yes, we transmen are a rare breed, aren't we? My name is Vla-" He paused and realized he hadn't thought of what alias to go by. Thinking quickly, Vlad continued, "I'm… Vick? Yeah! My name is Vick Polaris and I'm new to town." He followed this up with a firm handshake.

"That's such a badass name! Hey, Vick, would you maybe want to hang out with me on my break here in thirty minutes or so? We could go catch the breakfast menu at Nasty Taco before they switch to the regular stuff?" Chester asked excitedly, really wanting to be friends with this like-minded stranger.

"Nasty Taco has a breakfast menu now? Since when?!" Vlad asked, rather shocked by this.

"Uh…" Chester wasn't sure how to reply to that and decided to shrug it off as Vick not having watched much TV recently. "Yeah, they've been doing it since last year. It's really good. Better than the breakfast menu anywhere else."

While the thought of a classic taco chain doing breakfast seemed strange, Vlad was too hungry to pass up the chance to get some free food. "I would love to join you for brunch. Just allow me the time to finish purchasing the items I came here for and I will wait for you outside on one of the benches. Sound fair?" Vlad smiled as sweetly as possible. He knew making friends could prove to be beneficial.

Chester nodded in agreement and left Vlad alone to finish his shopping.

Still hanging onto the shirt he wanted, Vlad left the merchandise display and gathered two large backs of chips and a jug of water for himself. After he paid for the items, Vlad did as he said and waited outside on the bench. With the sun rising in the sky and the morning birds tweeting, he had to admit that this lovely day was very relaxing. Even better, was that he could sit outside and enjoy it without worrying about being hunted by the billions of people and ghosts who still wanted to kill him for his actions over ten years ago. Vlad closed his eyes and rested back against the bench, trying to not let memories of the past ruin his increasingly better mood. All he could do, was swear to himself that as soon as he returned home, he would begin work on figuring out went wrong in his calculations that caused the gender reassignment mutation in the DNA sequence. If he could just isolate that factor, he could become a man again and remain young.

Suddenly, Vlad was tapped on the shoulder and opened his eyes to see Chester smiling at him. "You ready?" He asked.

"Obviously." Vlad answered with a smirk and got up, following Chester to his car with groceries in hand.


	4. Four

It had been a very long time since Vlad had felt the sensation of riding in a car. Such a small thing he never would have imagined he would miss, but now realized just how much he did. While of course he felt bad for not having much to say during the ride, but he just couldn't help himself. Simple, ordinary things like this were the makings of a normal life that Vlad had been craving. Just sitting passenger side in an old Buick with the window rolled down, letting the wind whip across his face and through his hair. Living as a vagabond had nothing on this.

This moment of bliss was cut short as they finally rolled into the Nasty Taco parking lot. Taking in the sight, it was clear what a decade of absence could do to the overall look of an old established restaurant chain. Everything had been remodeled to a new contemporary style, but this wasn't the first renovation Vlad noticed since his return to Earth. Many restaurants and other business establishments had followed this formula. All in all, he couldn't say that he hated it, but could see a world run by corporate need to appeal to hipsters. Vlad may have been out of the swing, but he was still a good businessman and found this to be all too obvious. If anything, his biggest disappointment with the year 2015 was the severe lack of flying cars and space travel. At this point, it seemed as though it would remain in the world of science fiction forever as focus was put on bigger phones, smaller computers and he still wasn't entirely sure what an app was.

"I still can't believe you haven't tried or heard of their breakfast menu yet? There's so much you've gotta try, man!" Chester exclaimed excitedly, gesturing for Vlad to get out and follow him inside.

A smile crossed Vlad's lips as he got out of the car and followed his new friend inside. "I will literally eat anything you give to me. So would you mind ordering for the both of us? I'd like to find somewhere to sit. Crowds make me uneasy…" He spoke soft enough so only Chester could hear as he looked around, realizing the restaurant was more crowded than he had expected.

"Yeah, I get it." He replied to Vlad with a smile and pointed out a booth by the windows without many other patrons around.

Vlad took a seat at the booth and looked out the window, enjoying the view of the freeway this place had to offer. Watching them go by, it didn't even surprise him to notice the increase of hybrid vehicles and the overall, better designs they all had. Not just hybrids, but average cars as well. And why wouldn't they? The local gas prices absolutely appalled him to the point, he wasn't sure if he would ever drive for himself again. Unless he somehow became rich again, but that was unlikely. He'd sworn that a second chance was a second chance and that meant making an honest living in the modern world.

All of this deep contemplation was slowly making Vlad feel heavier inside and ignoring it didn't seem to be helping. Suddenly, a try full of different food items was presented on the table before him and he was even less sure how to feel about his current situation now. "We've only just met, there's no need to spend so much money on me?" He honestly felt bad now.

"Don't worry about it! This is a special occasion. I never get the chance to have brunch with someone and you definitely need to try everything. It's my treat." With the biggest smile, Chester left Vlad's ala carte display in front of him and started to eat his own breakfast crunchy wrap.

Just like that, there was the voice again inside Vlad's subconscious. _Look at you so cleverly taking advantage of this desperate fat moron. Say a few stupid kind words and you've got a day's worth of food for free and on the legit. You've still got it in you Plasmius. Once a monster, always a monster…_ The dark tones of his former self attacked at him until his depression returned full swing and the thought of eating made him utterly nauseated, regardless of how hungry he actually was.

Chester was able to pick up on this, but feared the worst from the start. "I'm sorry if I came on too strong. I just really wanted to be friends… I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." He muttered, taking Vlad's seemingly absentmindedness as a rejection of their friendship.

This broke Vlad free from his mind, but only made him feel worse about the situation. "No… Please, don't blame yourself? You've been nothing but kind. You're wonderful. Is it because I'm not saying enough?"

"Well… yeah, it was, but I didn't realize…" Chester looked into Vlad's eyes and could see a deep sadness that he himself found all too familiar. "…I didn't realize something was wrong. Do you want to talk about it? You can talk to me."

Vlad went quiet, not out of fear of saying what was wrong, but because he had no idea how to even put it into words. When he finally did speak, it was only a sad fragment of the whole issue, but so far the only piece he could hope to articulate. "You shouldn't have spent so much on me… I didn't mean to take advantage of you, but everyone will assume the worst of me. I just know it…"

"What are you talking about?" Chester replied to this quickly. "You haven't taken advantage of me at all. I'm the one that decided to treat you to the whole menu, so don't beat yourself up about it. Seriously, it's alright."

As much as Vlad desperately wanted to believe Chester's words, his inner demons once again showed up to bring him down. It wasn't possible for him to muster up an answer now as he completely shut down.

This alarmed Chester and it became too apparent that they needed to leave when Vlad began trembling and pulling himself into a near fetal position while still sitting up in the booth. This was a full blown fit of chronic depression. Without saying a word, Chester finished off his brunch and got up to get a to-go bag for Vlad's food. The fact that Vlad had no reaction to any of this other than an empty, hopeless stare, only further confirmed what was going on. "Come with me." He finally said in a gentle tone as he helped Vlad out of the booth and walked with him out of the restaurant and back to the privacy of the car.

Once in the car, Vlad didn't speak, but just pulled his knees up to his chest and leaned on the window. At this time, the sheet wrapped around his chest became loose and was falling off, making his breast noticeable once again. This was the final straw that had Vlad break down into tears, sobbing loudly into his knees.

"I'm going to take you back to my apartment. I've got something for moments like this that I know will help." He said reassuringly as the sound of his friend's pain made Chester's heart feel like it was breaking for him.

Vlad wasn't able to speak at this point. Only crying with occasional hitting himself on the head. He wanted the voice to shut up, but it was like an ever-looming presence with no end.

"Listen…" Chester suddenly spoke up as he drove back to the freeway and headed into the city where his apartment was located. "I don't know what happened in your life to damage you this badly, but you just have to believe me that everything will turn out alright. You need to have hope, you know? I mean, when I came out as Transsexual, my entire family shunned me and even kicked me out of the house. If I hadn't of had this job, who knows how bad things would have been? But anyway, it hurt. It still hurts… Growing up, I didn't have many friends because I was different, so having my family to turn to meant the world to me. I can't even put into words how much it hurt when I needed their love and support the most, they cast me out because I would ruin their image with the church and community." He had to pause for a moment and do a breathing exercise to remain focused and not start crying too. "But… as much as it hurt to be rejected, they didn't realize how much it hurt to live all those years putting on a show and essentially wear a mask so I could be their perfect little daughter. That person the world tried to force me to be isn't worth going back to for anything. Even if it meant that I would live the rest of my life alone. I'd rather be alone and free to be myself than live a lie… Now, the only loose end to tie up in my life is my current job and as soon as I find one that accepts me for the man that I am, you better believe I'll take it. Then, I'll never have to hear the name, Chelsea Browne, again."

Although it seemed as though this heartfelt confession fell on deft ears, Vlad had been listening to every word of it and truly admired Chester's bravery. "I wish… I could be that strong too… But I'm just a walking failure, despicable person and was a fool to let myself believe I could get a second chance at happiness…" He whimpered into his knees, feeling lower than dirt.

"Don't say that!" Chester replied seriously as they pulled into the lot of the apartment complex where he lived. "It's one thing to feel hurt because the world is kicking you down. That's alright and it's okay to feel hurt. Trust me, I know… But it's another thing to continue to kick yourself after everything is said and done. Especially if you're trying to pick yourself up at the same time. You're only holding yourself back from getting to your feet and moving forward. Now come inside with me." He said, putting the car into park and grabbing the bag of Nasty Taco food to bring inside.

Vlad didn't speak, not knowing how to reply to being snapped at like this. Deep down, he knew Chester was right and he greatly appreciated that someone cared enough to say these things. However, in the back of his mind, he knew that if Chester found out his true identity, things would turn out differently. He would be treated like the monster he feared he would always be. After rubbing his eyes, Vlad slowly got out of the car and followed Chester into the apartment. The small studio barely had enough room and the clutter made Vlad feel sorry for the way his friend was forced to live. It was every bit as bad as living in an abandoned mansion, with the exception of running water, heat and electricity.

"I'm sorry for the mess, but I never have anyone come over anyway. You can just sit on the bed, I do. Even if I could afford a couch or some chairs, there's no room here for them." Chester sighed heavily and went into the bathroom to fetch the thing he promised that would help.

Vlad sat on the edge of the messy bed and rubbed his eyes more with his wrists. "I'm sorry for ruining your special brunch… I can't be happy for a single moment before I'm reminded of what a horrible person I am… It's like the world is watching me, waiting for me to mess up and be the monster everyone's come to know me as…"

"I seriously don't think you're that horrible, Vick. Unless, it's like, you've murdered thousands of people and you're on the run, but even then, I'm the type to believe no one is beyond redemption. If you're actually sorry and work hard to repay the debt you owe to those you've hurt, then you can't be that bad of a person." Chester replied as he came out of the bathroom with a pill in hand and sat beside Vlad on the bed. "Everyone has the capacity to change and deserves a second chance. If you really were a monster, you wouldn't feel this guilty about it in the first place. Right?"

"I suppose…" Vlad muttered and glanced at the pill. "What's that?" He asked.

"Just something my doctor gave me for when I have bouts of severe depression like you are. It'll help clear your mind." He handed it over to Vlad who reluctantly swallowed it down. "You still don't need to go into details if you don't want to, but I swear I won't judge you. You can tell me anything. I feel like we've been friends our whole lives and were only just brought together by fate."

"Fate can shove it…" Vlad muttered. "I really don't believe you could handle knowing the truth about me."

"Try me?" Chester challenged, positive he could handle anything.

This made Vlad frown. "If you knew and decided to turn me in to the authorities… I couldn't let you." Looking away, it was too hard to look at Chester and say this. "But that would just be validation for me ending my own life… Going as far as to kill the first person to show me friendship and kindness… That really would make me a monster, unfit to remain in this world…"

Hearing this made Chester's stomach sink, but he didn't give up. "Vick… just tell me who you are? If you need to kill me… so be it."

Once again, tears rolled down Vlad's cheeks. He couldn't believe this person was so dead set on being there for him, that he would risk his own life.

"Tell me." Chester repeated.

"I'm afraid." Vlad muttered, breaking down into another fit of crying. Just the thought alone of admitting to his true identity was difficult. If Chester retaliated, he wouldn't have any choice but to kill him or only kill himself. Either way, he wouldn't survive it and Vlad wasn't sure if he was ready to die just yet. Even if it were for the best of everyone.

"Vick, I promise, no matter what, you can tell me anything. I can already see that whatever you've done in the past, you're paying the emotional price for it now. You don't need to worry about me kicking you out or calling the police." He placed a hand on Vlad's shoulder to reassure him.

The touch and constant reassurance was the only thing that made Vlad think for a moment, that maybe he could trust someone. "Do you remember…" He started softly. "…ten years ago… when the Earth was nearly destroyed by the disasteroid and a man named Vlad tried to take over the planet in exchange for saving it?"

"Yeah, everyone knows about that. Danny Phantom was the one who saved Earth, but what does that have to do with you?" Chester was confused, but bared with him.

"I'm… I'm Vlad…" Tears rolled quicker and he was swallowed by the fear of Chester's reaction. "I was so ashamed… I wouldn't have even considered returning to Earth if I hadn't discovered a rare element in space with DNA altering properties. I thought… maybe if I could just start my life over, everything would be okay, but something went wrong… Something always goes wrong! I made myself young again, but accidentally turned myself into a girl… I can't even look at myself anymore. My whole life is just one mistake after another!"

Chester was speechless. _Was this seriously Vlad Masters? The evil half ghost, Plasmius that nearly became their supreme ruler?_ It would explain why Vick seemed to show up out of nowhere. This was the area that Mr. Masters called home for a long time before moving to Amity Park, Minnesota. Questions began to buzz through his head, but he had to be sure that this was really Vlad and not just some seriously brainwashed girl he was wasting his time on. "Literally, the entire world has you on their most wanted list. If you're found out, there's no way you'd be let off the hook very easily. Even life in prison would seem too lenient for most people… Before I decide what I'm going to do, prove to me that you're who you say you are. Go ghost or whatever it is you do. Show me Plasmius and I'll believe what you're telling me."

Vlad couldn't even watch to see his reaction as pink energy emanated from his midsection and covered the length of his body. Thus, revealing his now female ghost half, Plasmius.

Chester stood up quickly in completely shock. "Oh my God, you're him! You're Vlad Plasmius! How long have you been back on Earth? Does Danny Phantom know you're back?!"

Prepared to kill himself to avoid hurting Chester, Vlad was stopped when asked the two questions. "I've been on Earth for a few weeks…" He replied, still speaking through the crying. "And forget about Danny Phantom. Daniel is a brat who has been living in my already falling apart mansion. The only reason I went out today was because he stole the last of the food I had been rationing."

"Seriously? Danny Phantom, hero of the Earth, is living with you and stealing your stuff. Does he even know it's you?" Chester asked skeptically.

"He has a ghost sense, so obviously he knows. For the record though, I don't know what's wrong with him either. He said something about a divorce, but didn't give much detail." Vlad answered as he turned human again.

This being said, Chester needed to pace around the room a little and think. Meanwhile, Vlad attempted to stop crying. The anti-depressant was taking effect and it was like he could feel himself being forced to relax. This long silence between them dragged out for nearly ten minutes as both of them thought about how to best handle the situation they were now in. Finally, however, with a very loud sigh, Chester sat down on the bed next to Vlad and started digging in the Nasty Taco bag that he had brought in earlier. He handed Vlad out a breakfast burrito and spoke very bluntly. "Eat this and listen to what I have to say."

Vlad was resistant to eating, but the smell of it was enough to make his stomach roar and he did as he was told. After the first bite, it didn't take long for him to devour the whole thing and start eating more food from the bag.

"I swear to keep your secret if you can show me that you're a different person now, than you were back then. Work hard to make a positive change in the world so that people will know you're a good person and not just a compilation of every mistake you've ever made." He spoke gently, but with a firm gaze on Vlad. "I really do want to be friends. I have a feeling that the more friends you have, the better... We should meet once a day for brunch so we can talk. I think being able to open up to a trusted friend will help both of us… What do you think?"

Finishing off what he was eating, Vlad was better able to speak now that the pill mellowed him out. "I hate myself, I hate my life and everyone in both this world and the Ghost Zone hates me too. How's that for a start to our therapeutic brunch sessions?" He said this a bit mockingly, but was completely open to the idea.

Rolling his eyes, Chester spoke up. "I don't hate you. I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't. It's just hard to know how to feel about someone who was comfortable with enslaving you at one time… It's a weird position to be in. What should I call you now that I know your true identity, anyway? Still want to go by Vick?"

"Possibly…" He replied. "But I don't want to be associated with Masters or Plasmius. I'd rather take the name of my favorite star to visit during my exile… Polaris." For the first time since earlier, Vlad finally smiled.

"Fair enough, Vlad Polaris." Chester smiled as well.


	5. Five

"For the record, I'm not asking you to miss work just to spend time with me." Called Vlad from inside the apartment bathroom, feeling very pleased with his appearance after carefully applying the chest binder so kindly given to him by, Chester.

Chester leaned against the wall outside the bathroom door as he waited for Vlad to come out and texted a fellow employee to cover the second half of his shift. "Whatever you say, Vladdy… So, how's that binder working out?" He asked. "That piece of ripped sheet you were using before looked fucking stupid, especially when it started falling off."

"Don't remind me!" Vlad answered back whilst rolling his eyes. After pulling his shirt back on over his head, he couldn't help but once again marvel at the reflection he was now presented with. Perhaps it was his elevated mood after spending time with Chester or the fact that his slender college physique was now much more apparent? Either way, Vlad finally felt confident with himself. "Other than the annoyance of dealing with breasts, I think I can manage living with this body _for now_. I'm grateful that as a woman, I at least take after my mother's side of the family and have very petite hips. It helps with the illusion, although…" He turned to the side and thoughtfully ran his hand down his body, taking notice of the lovely curve and shape of his once flatter and manlier buttocks. "I do enjoy some of the advantages this body has to offer." With a smirk, he exited the bathroom via intangibly floating through the door.

Looking up from his phone, Chester could see that Vlad was much happier with his appearance and he felt both happy for him, and confused. "What advantages are those?" He asked.

Following up with a good laugh, Vlad answered, "I have a rocking bottom, as the young people say." He turned around with pride, showing himself off.

Chester lightly blushed, but shrugged it off. "If you weren't actually a man, I'd probably find you attractive." He teased.

"Sorry to burden you with my attractiveness." This made him laugh, but then his tone quieted. "I've never been a girl and I have no intentions of staying one. Even if it means living as a transman for the remainder of my life." Vlad sighed, trying not taking what Chester said too seriously.

"Well, don't worry about it. Like I said, I'm only interested in girls and I'm not even interested in a relationship with anyone right now, anyway." He replied to Vlad honestly. "I will say though, I'm questioning your masculinity more and more. I try to keep an open mind and all, but something about you seems off. Like, you don't want to be called a girl, but you seem alright with yourself as long as the boobs are out of the way. What's up with that?"

"You tell me?" Vlad asked, becoming confused. "I'm obviously of an older generation, because I'm still unsure of all these fancy new definitions for gender and sexuality. To be perfectly honest, it seems complicated."

"Yeah, you're ancient. It's not new though, it's just easier for people to come out of the closet these days and explore who they really are." Chester explained.

Vlad let out a sigh. "I suppose, but it can still be difficult to grasp. When I grew up, no one had ever heard of someone claiming to be anything other than the gender they were born with. Sometimes there were homosexuals, but they weren't often associated with... My father would backhand me and tell me to stop being a faggot whenever I did something he considered feminine. It was difficult enough just living with that man, I wasn't going to give him more reasons to hurt me… I was raised to be an intelligent man, ready to do whatever necessary to achieve my goals and desires." He clearly forced a smile. "If anything good came of it, it's that I actually fell in love with football after being forced to play as a boy."

This was heavy and Chester felt sorry for him. "Listen, times have changed and you're free to be whatever feels right for you. All that matters is that you're happy." After pocketing his phone and rubbing Vlad gently on the shoulder, he asked. "Want to go for a walk with me? I live close to the metro park and we can talk more there. Fresh air might do us both some good?"

"A walk sounds fine." Vlad replied, feeling both confident about being in public and confused as to what he felt inside as far as gender and sexuality.

Before they left the apartment, Chester took a moment to change from his work clothes into something more comfortable for walking. He changed into a regular pair of blue jeans, boots and a shirt with the Milwaukee Bucks logo on it. "Packers are cool and all, but what do you think of the Bucks? They're my favorite team."

"They're alright, if basketball is your thing. Though my personal favorite basketball team are the Minnesota Timberwolves. Sorry, not sorry." Vlad shrugged with a smile. "I'll also add before you ask, and since it _'tis the season_ , my favorite baseball team will forever be the Red Sox."

This made Chester laugh before giving a snarky reply. "You, Sox-trash. Where's your cheese-head pride? Milwaukee Brewers is where it's at on the baseball field."

"Oh?" Vlad crossed his arms. "So some Milwaukee processed cheese like you is calling my gourmet cheesiness into question? Well, bring it on, because it's not my fault the Brewers suck. My cheese is too sophisticated for them." Vlad teased back, trying to seem serious and not smile, but failed miserably as he broke into a giggle.

Chester had to keep himself from bursting into laughter too as he grabbed his keys and headed out the door with Vlad to walk in the park. "Care to watch the Brewers game with me at T.G.I. Payday's on Sunday, then? If they lose, you can win the title of Ultimate King Cheese."

Whilst following Chester out the door, he smirked. "I thought I already held that title, but if I must defend my crown, so be it."

The park they were visiting was close enough that it only took a twenty minute walk to reach it. On the way there, Vlad once again basked in the warm sunlight and felt at peace, even if it was only for just a moment. As his memory of this particular park returned, he also remembered the few times he had spent there either playing football with Jack or partying with the rest of their, gang. Once they arrived, Vlad found himself paused outside the park entrance, also able to remember why he stopped going there. After the accident, his anger towards Jack had been so overpowering, places like this that they had enjoyed together made him sick to his stomach, but things were different now. _Life was different now…_ So why was it suddenly difficult to enter this park?

It took Chester patting Vlad on the shoulder to snap him out of his daze. "Hey, are you alright? I was asking if you wanted to walk the trail with me."

"Oh…" Vlad rubbed his forehead, realizing he hadn't heard Chester ever talking to him in the first place. "Sorry. That sounds fine." His voice trailed off.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Vlad took a deep breath and made himself relax. The past was in the past, this was a new day with a new friend. "This place just brings back memories. I'll be alright, though. Let's go." He began walking into the park and the two of them headed for the trail that branched off the main path. This would take them through the thicket of trees and past the creeks, offering a nice secluded setting for them to talk alone. Chester had remained quiet, however. Respectfully, not wanting to trigger another bout of depression for Vlad.

It had been about ten minutes into their walk on the trail and to their relief, there was barely anyone out and they were alone. Their common social awkwardness was another apparent similarity that drew them into a friendship with one another. Eventually, though, it was Vlad who spoke up first with something unexpected. "I have a gender question, since I apparently know nothing."

"Okay?" Chester raised an eyebrow, curiously.

Pausing to make sure they were alone, Vlad then continued. "As far as I'm aware, I have to be male or female, and given the choice, I'd choose male. However… what does one call themselves, when you want to destroy someone for calling you a girl, but you don't feel they're quite right when they call you a boy and this is what I'm struggling to understand." His expression showed the annoyance he felt over feeling things that his old mindset couldn't explain. "And I'm not talking about since the accident that made me a female. I'm talking about my entire life up until this point. The only explanation I'd ever been given is that I'm simply an effeminate man, with a knack for style and a love of pink. No one, not even my father, could call me a girl or a faggot if I was rich, suave and lusted after women… Or a specific woman, in my case… Which I wouldn't recommend to any young person. Wasting time obsessing over what you can't have only distracts you from finding something you actually can have… Sorry for my incoherent, old man, rambling." Vlad apologized nervously, realizing that he was talking too much.

"Dude, relax, it's alright." Chester spoke reassuringly. "I agree with you about the obsession thing. That advice is on point, but about the gender thing, I think I know what you're talking about."

"Seriously? Let's hear it, then?" Vlad half smiled, hoping for answers.

Seeing his friend's change of expression made him smile back. "I'm pretty sure you're non-binary. Don't know if that means you're agendered, bigendered or genderqueer, though?" He then went on to explain as Vlad listened closely. "Bigender means you feel like a man and a woman, but they're separate. Sometimes they fade in or out and sometimes you feel both at the same time, but they're still separate in your mind. Genderqueer is also feeling like a man and a woman at the same time, but they're mixed together in a way that's hard to define. Like a fusion of man and woman. Then there's agender, which pretty much means you're neither man nor woman. You're only you."

"That one!" Vlad spoke up quickly, but covered his mouth in shame when he realized he rudely cut Chester off.

"You mean, agender? So you don't feel like either gender?" Chester asked, not minding that he was interrupted.

Vlad nodded, then replied more calmly. "I'm not a woman and never will be, but the more I reflect, the more I realize that I'm not much of a man either. I'm just Vlad…" He shrugged, feeling humbled at this revelation. "But now I wonder, would it be wrong of me to claim to be agender and still prefer male pronouns?"

Chester's reply was a shake of the head. "Vladdy, anyone can go by any pronoun that makes them comfortable. I'm curious though, what does this mean for your current body state? Are you still wanting to change back?"

"Oh, I'm still planning on figuring out what error caused this to happen. But, if it turns out that this change is permanent, or if I find use of this body before I find the cure, then I'm coming to realize that I could make this work. As long as I can get these breasts removed, the rest isn't that bad." With a smirk, he added. "It's as if the price to pay for allure, youth and a second chance at life is one penis… Doesn't seem that costly on my end now that I reflect on the gravity of what I've been given. I mean, look at me. Vlad "Plasmius" Masters, the most hated man on Earth, walking freely out in public. I've even made a friend." His smirk morphed into a warm smile as an idea came to him. "Ches… if I'm successful at discovering how to alter gender, you'll be the first person I share it with. You've literally been too kind to me and you more than deserve to be happy."

Chester stopped and took a step back in complete shock. This was the last thing he'd expected to here. "Don't fuck with me. Are you serious about that? I don't need someone giving me hope, just to bash it back down."

"I'm very serious. You've been nothing but good to me. Even after I revealed to you who I was, you still treated me like a human being instead of a monster…" Vlad had to fight back becoming emotional. "I haven't had a friend in so long, why wouldn't I share this with you? You deserve a chance to physically be the man you've always known you were."

"Dude…" Chester was also holding back the wave of emotions, but still pulled Vlad into a tight hug. "Thank you. You have no idea how much just the offer means to me. I hope you figure it out, but if you don't, just… thank you, man."

Vlad relaxed into the hug and for a moment, reminisced about being scooped up into Jack's giant hugs, too. It was painful, but blissful and echoed true friendship. It wasn't until after this tender moment that they finally continued walking on the trail, talking and laughing together as if they'd known each other for years. At one point, about a mile into their walk, something bright pink in the bushes caught Vlad's attention. "Hold on." He said, running through the shrubbery and nearly tripping once just to come back, clenching a dirty old pink football. "And prize for the greatest discovery ever, goes to Vlad Polaris." While bragging, he played around with it. Tossing it into the air a few times.

Chester replied with a grin. "So, if someone offers you pink shit because they think you're a girl, it's gross, but if it's something you pick out for yourself, then pink is totally alright?"

"You know it." Vlad replied with a smile and surprise that Chester was able to catch on to that. "I'm keeping this, because I'm evil and finders-keepers." His fake evil laugh was more comical than threatening now that he sounded like a young woman, but Vlad clearly embraced this to joke around and made Chester chuckle.

"Whoa, now. Keeping an old ball you found in a bush. You're truly a villain." Chester joked sarcastically, making Vlad bow in response to his devious nature being called out.

"So, can you throw or catch?" Vlad asked, really missing the feeling of tossing a football around.

"Oh God, no. That thing will give me a concussion." Chester replied, to Vlad's disappointment. "I'm more the type to watch sports, not play. Gym class was never my strong point."

"Darn..." Vlad sighed, but accepted the situation. "Guess this beauty is all mine, then." That said, they continued walking with Vlad tossing the ball up in the air and catching it repeatedly. At one point, he mentioned mindlessly, "I used to have a ball signed by Ray Nitschke."

Chester paused and asked. "Who?"

Vlad had to stop and look in shock. "You're asking me who Ray Nitschke, is? He's only one of the most famous players the Packer's ever had. I remember when they retired his number back in the 80's. That was a big deal back then…" At this time, Vlad had to hold back laughing as he said, "I swear you young people these days only care about your Bradys', Lynches' and Roethlisbergers'. No love for the classics."

"Yeah, kids like me will just never understand." Chester sighed with a grin. "So you said you _used_ to have it? What happened to it?"

"That jerk, Daniel Fenton, or as you know him as, Danny Phantom. The last time that brat ruined my home, it was lost in all the chaos. I was only ever able to save a few things that I sealed up in a box in my bedroom closet. That's where I got the clothes I'm wearing. Vintage 1984." He sighed. "Pretty much all of the signed memorabilia that I had acquired over the years is gone. One of my goals is to start collecting again. I think if I get the chance, I'd love to meet Lynn Dickey. He was the quarterback at the time when I was in college."

"I'm still having trouble imagining the hero of the Earth as a brat, but if I ever can, I'll help you build your collection back up. Maybe we'll take a trip to meet Lynn Dickey for you sometime, too?" Chester offered, to which Vlad thanked him.


	6. Six

The afternoon sun shined brightly through the cracks of the boarded up windows, filling the bedroom with heat and light. After nearly an hour of tossing and turning, Danny finally succumbed to the discomfort and squinted his eyes open. He lay spread out on the dusty old bed in only his underwear and without covers. It was becoming too hot in the unventilated old mansion to get any decent amount of rest. However, waking up and getting up were two entirely different levels for Danny right now. So instead, he stared at the ceiling, trying to relax through the uncomfortable atmosphere and the increasing headache which plagued him every time he woke up. With a little push from his icy core, he managed to produce a cooling aura around his body to help him cope.

As he did this, his thoughts began to wander and eventually brought him to his daughters. Despite his estranged feelings towards Sam, the same couldn't be said for Charity and Angel. He loved and missed them immensely, wondering what they thought of him for running away. Danny turned on his side and fought back the deep depression that threatened to engulf him. It wouldn't even have been a shock if it turned out they resented him for this and at this point, he both was and wasn't prepared to accept that. This uncertainty was just more fuel for the metaphorical fire of self-loathing that burned within him.

Needing to not think anymore, Danny sat up and grabbed the bottle of vodka he'd had from the night before and took a few drinks from it. He left it on the floor by the bed for an emergency like this. Alcohol was his cure for the depression. His personal medication to take away the pain and numb him once again. It was impossible for Danny to imagine getting by without any alcohol in his system. If he went too long without, he'd feel sick and the negative emotions would drive him to suicide as it had before. If it hadn't been for Charity walking in on him in the bathroom about to slit his wrists, he wouldn't be here now. Again, if there were any motivation within him to live, it was his baby girls. So he gave himself willingly to the addiction. It kept him going for them, at least.

Once a light buzz returned, he felt capable of getting out of bed and putting his clothes back on. He also needed to use the restroom. With no running water, using the toilets was irrelevant, but he still pissed in them anyway. There was very little he cared about and keeping the neglected old mansion clean wasn't one of them. It was after he did all this that his stomach began growling vigorously and he remembered sending Vlad out for food. Hoping there was something to eat, he went ghost and floated through the mansion to find either Vlad or the food she'd bought. When it became apparent that he was alone, with a heavy groan, Danny decided to go back to the gas station to get something to eat and maybe pick up another bottle of vodka.

It didn't take long for Danny to get to the gas station, but the bright light of the sun slowed him down a bit. He internally kicked himself for not thinking to grab his sunglasses and a few other things from his home before he left. Too late now though. It helped when he was finally inside the gas station and could relax in the air conditioning. He was definitely going to take his time in here.

As he looked around, he noticed that the hot food counter was open and that sounded a lot better than a bag of chips. It was one of those places where you placed your order into a touchscreen computer and they would call you up when it was ready. This would at least cut down on the awkwardness, though Danny couldn't have cared less either way. He leaned against the machine, his face inches from the screen as he ordered. Although being away from Sam freed him to eat whatever he wanted, he still felt inclined to keep up a loose-vegetarian diet. It kept his weight under control and that was necessary considering what end of his parents gene-pool he fell under. So in the end, he ordered a veggie-lover's sub with a large soda.

With the order placed, he decided it was time to grab another bottle of vodka, but as he turned around to leave the machine, he realized a group of teens were trying to watch him without getting noticed. A couple of girls and a few boys ducked behind the aisle giggling when he caught a glimpse of them. Intrigued, Danny approached them. "What are you kids looking at?" He asked, sounding just as amused as he was tired.

They nudged among themselves until finally one of the boys was chosen and asked, "Hey, we were wondering, are you _Danny Phantom_?"

Now this strange encounter made sense and Danny was used to dealing with fans. "Yes, I am. What are you gonna do about it?" He smirked and walked past them to get to the alcohol.

"Dude, you're like Superman, but real!" One of the girls said excitedly as the group followed close behind him. The other girl began giggling and admitted, "I legit have a poster of you in my room."

Every word inflated Danny's ego and he'd be lying if he said he didn't sometimes enjoy the attention that came with fame. Grabbing a pint size bottle of cheap vodka, he turned to them and spoke with smug confidence. "How old are the five of you?"

The girl with blond hair that had mentioned the poster answered for them. "We're all 15 except, except Josh, but he'll be 15 soon." To this, the shorter of the three guys nodded.

"Nice." Danny replied, thinking this night was about to get more interesting. "Do you kids party?"

They weren't very quick to answer his question. "You mean, like, fun birthday parties or are you asking if we _party_?" The tallest boy asked suspiciously. They didn't want to walk into a trap that would result in a lecture on not doing drugs.

Danny raised an eyebrow and replied sarcastically, "I'm holding vodka, what the fuck do you think I meant? I'm looking for people with connections. If you're not cool, don't waste my fucking time." That said, he heard that his order was ready and headed to the counter to pick it up.

Before he could get away, the tall guy from before grabbed his shoulder and said desperately. "Look, dude, we party and we'd love to party with a legend like you! We just thought you'd give us a lecture or something?"

A devious expression fell over Danny and he knew he had manipulated them perfectly. Teens were so easy to take advantage of, especially when you were considered famous. "Prove it then. Show up at the old Master's mansion in about two hours. I'll make sure there's plenty of alcohol if you kids bring the smoke." He whispered to the boy and pat him on the shoulder before going to pick up his food and pay for it, plus the vodka.

While he paid for his things and as he left the gas station, he knew his little posse of curious kiddies were following behind just to watch him. Once in the parking lot, he turned to them with a cocky grin and decided to seal the deal by going ghost. Seeing that they were clearly in fan mode and wanted more of him, he flew away knowing they would prove to be a good time that evening.

Danny didn't go directly back to the mansion, instead, he found a shady place on top of a building to eat and drink in peace. The sun was beginning to set and the sky faded to shades of orange and pink. While relaxing, he felt proud of himself for once again for finding a way to make his night a bit less boring. There was also a consideration of making a pass at the blond girl. She was cute and he wondered if she was willing to put out. If not, any of her friends would do. He wasn't too picky.

When Danny took the first bite of his sub, he grumbled and opened it up. "Of course…" He said, picking out the slices of tomato that he clearly remembered not ordering. Not putting much thought into it, he threw it over the side of the building and watched where it fell out of curiosity. When one of the round slices landed and stuck to the outside of a window, he burst into laughter. This enjoyment was short lived though and he found himself opening up the vodka bottle. Danny poured what he could of it into his soda before it overfilled the plastic cup and drank it like that. He wasn't ready to get totally trashed just yet. Not until after he had a chance to get high and possibly some good oral action. Again, he found himself considering talking the teens into either one-on-one fun or an orgy. It wouldn't be the first time and at this rate, it wouldn't be the last.

It was after Danny had finished his sub and was drinking his now alcoholic soft drink that his ghost sense tingled. Not really alarmed, he watched to see if any ghosts would show up and to his surprise, three familiar faces, or beaks rather, flew down and landed on the building in front of him. Their green auras shown bright in the now twilight sky. "If it isn't the three stooges? Haven't seen you birds in years."

"Yeah, yeah, we've been living in the Ghost Zone." One of them spoke up and was immediately interrupted by another one. "Took us forever to find our way out!"

"Mmhm…" Danny hummed, thinking it wasn't surprising since they were blind, old nuts. "So what do you want? A prize for your navigational skills?"

They clearly didn't pick up on Danny's sarcasm as the first one continued. "A prize would be lovely, but we're actually looking for our master." Again, the second one cut in. "Yeah, we sensed Vlad back on Earth."

This was strange to him and Danny raised an eyebrow while tilting his head slightly. "How can you three still be loyal to that jerk?" He asked more out of confusion than disgust. Vlad had been gone over a decade and there was no indications that anyone on the Ghost side still cared for him at all.

"We didn't ask you to understand, we asked you where Vlad is! Now you had better start talking, or else!" The first bird squaked at him.

To this, Danny quickly retaliated. "You didn't ask me anything in the first place!"

The three looked at each other in confusion which, as usual, lead to them bickering.

Danny groaned and shot a beam of ectoplasmic energy above their heads to shut them up and get their attention. "Listen, don't bother me or get in my way. If you manage to not annoy me too much, just hang out close to me and you'll find Vlad. I'm accidentally living with him… or _her_ , at the moment, anyway." There was amusement in his voice when he mentioned Vlad's current female state, but the vultures weren't able to understand what he meant.

After listening and then debating among themselves, the first one spoke up. "Alright, but you better not be messing with us or we'll peck your eyes out good, ya' hear?" With that final, unthreatening threat, the three of them went invisible as to not disturb Danny while they lingered around, waiting to be reunited with their master.

Now that he had Curly, Larry and Moe following him around, Danny was a bit annoyed, regardless of their invisibility. However, he was willing to deal with it for now. After finishing his drink, he chucked his trash over the side of the building, not caring enough to find a trash can. With the vodka bottle in hand, he decided to find the ATM and withdraw more money to get more alcohol for that night as he had promised the kids.

It took only a moment to fly to the ATM from where he was and he felt good until the moment he swiped the card. Instantly, it had been declined. A bit shocked, Danny tried swiping it a few more times until it became very clear. Sam must have either frozen the account or reported the card as stolen to keep him from taking anymore money. "Fuck!" Danny exploded, knowing he would need to come up with another way to get money now.

Leaving the bank, Danny paced around angrily, cursing Sam, until something caught his attention and gave him an idea. Across the street sat a pawn shop that was still open. He also had a desperate idea of what he could sell for the extra cash. "Hey, bird-brains!" Danny exclaimed, trying to get the attention of the vultures.

"What do you want?" One of them asked as they appeared beside him.

"How would you three like to help me, help Vlad?" Danny asked, putting on an innocent show which they easily fell for. They listened up, willing to do anything to help their master. Danny then explained. "Vlad told me he needed more money for something he was planning and unfortunately, the ATM in the bank is broken. He already told me to just sell his generator and laptop if that happened, so would you three mind giving me a hand with that?"

Being the trusting vultures that they were, they shrugged and agreed to help Danny, help Vlad.


	7. Seven

"I can't believe that asshole thought $150 was a fair deal? Sure, the laptop was a piece of shit, but that generator was practically brand new!" Complained Danny as he supervised the vultures whom were still doing his bidding under the illusion that it would somehow help their master. Their task was taking extra cases of beer up to his room while he prepared a fire pit that he'd found in the backyard. It was perfect for the fun he planned to have this evening. For this occasion, he even purchased a blue cooler and filled it with some of the beer. There was no need to buy ice for it either, since his ice powers took care of that.

Once the vultures were finished with their task, one of the three asked Danny in a cranky tone, "Remind us again, how will this help our master? It feels like you've mistaken us for hired help around here…"

Just as the large ghostly bird had finished his sentence, Danny was quick to snap at them. "It isn't my fault you're too fucking dumb to realize when you've been played, dipshits. Do me another favor and get the hell out of here before I make you leave."

With glares of daggers, the three elderly buzzards disappeared into the ether, continuing the search for their master without Danny's help. Danny, himself, paid no attention to them.

The sun set over the forests that surrounded the estate and the night settled in. Danny had just finished collecting some debris from the yard and pulled his lighter from his front pocket to get the fire started. A small glow grew into a decent enough flame, setting the tone for the fun evening he had planned for himself. The only thing missing, was someone to party with. So as he waited for the teens he invited to show up, Danny sat in front of the fire and stared down into the glow. Like a creeping vine that threatened to strangle him if he didn't hold it off, the thoughts of his daughters, his mother, his fa… _That was enough._ Quickly cracking open a beer, Danny drank it down like he'd been dying of thirst.

With the second beer in hand, a loud horn broke Danny's silent moment and startled him into almost dropping it. However, that's exactly the sound he wanted to hear. Going ghost and floating through to the front of the mansion, a beat up old truck with two people inside had pulled up into the driveway.

When the teens saw the green glow of Danny's ghost form, the shorter guy and the blonde girl from earlier climbed out of the truck and waved to him. They could hardly believe this was really happening. The chance to party with a legend.

Approaching the truck, Danny couldn't help but scoff at the poor condition it was in. Truly an old farm truck, if he'd ever seen one. "So where's the others?" He asked in a cool manner.

"Sorry about that." The blonde girl said quickly, hoping they didn't disappoint him. "They couldn't make it, but they felt reeeeally bad about it!"

Danny shrugged. "I don't give a shit about that. I'd rather hang out with just you two anyway."

This response left both of the teens feeling complimented. The guy then went on, "You'll definitely think we're the coolest when you see what we brought!"

"Oh really?" Danny raised a brow and smiled.

The girl pulled a small baggy from the pocket of her jacket. It contained a fat joint for them all to enjoy. For this occasion, they saw spending the ten dollars as an investment toward their social status.

With a chuckle, Danny waved for them to follow him to the back of the mansion where his firepit was ready and waiting. "This'll definitely be a party now." Walking in front of them, the didn't see his rolling eyes as it was too apparent to Danny what kids these were, thinking they were total badass for showing up with a single joint and a shitty old truck.

When they reached the back of the mansion and set around the fire, the girl and boy sat next to each other with Danny close by. The girl didn't waste time taking out the joint and firing it up to pass around as Danny grabbed everyone a beer from the cooler. "What're your names?" Danny asked, opening his beer and drinking heavily at it.

"My name is Josh and hers is Melody." The boy answered before taking a hit and passing it on to Danny.

When Danny took a hit, he wanted to mock the quality of the joint, but it was free, so he kept comments to himself. As time went on, they all small talked, took hits and had drinks.

"Why are you here, anyway?" Asked Melody after a few rough coughs. "I never thought we'd get to meet Danny Phantom here in Madison?"

Danny didn't expect kids like them to understand what was going on, so he kept his answer to a minimum. "My wife left me. I needed to get away for a while."

"That's sad…" Melody frowned. She felt sorry for her hero. "You seem like such a cool guy. Seriously, any girl would go nuts just to have you."

After taking a hit, Danny burst into laughter and coughing. "You have no fucking idea what I'm really like. Quit dick-riding or I'll hold you to it." Danny took a drink from his beer and ended up finishing it off. ' _Yeah, Sam's the bitch, but I'm the prick bastard that drove her to it. You fucking kids don't understand anything about the real world…'_ He thought to himself.

Melody hadn't expected this response and began to feel uncomfortable around him. She moved closer to Josh to feel a bit better. "Sorry... " She muttered.

"Get over it." Danny said with a belch and opened his third beer. "Life's a fucking bitch and constantly apologizing doesn't change shit. Sorry, doesn't make up for a shitty marriage. Sorry, doesn't bring people back from the dead. Sorry, doesn't fill the fucking void when you can't sleep because you're trying to figure out where everything went wrong, but you can't because you know you're just a fucking piece of shit that'll never meet the expectations of the motherfucking hero everyone makes you out to be!" After the outburst was over, Danny relaxed himself and went back to casually drinking and smoking with the two teens who were more than put off by him now.

When the weed was spent and the kids had had a few beers, they noticed a change in Danny's overall disposition. There was nothing cool about this man. In truth, they were becoming more and more afraid. This was only increased when they noticed Danny's eyes flash red every time he had something negative to say about life or his ex-wife. "Hey, listen… we probably should go…" Said Josh, rubbing the back of his neck and not making eye-contact with Danny. "We've got school tomorrow and, it's been fun, but yeah, we probably should head home."

"Fucking seriously?" Danny retorted quickly. "I haven't even had the chance to fuck either of you yet?" His voice was slurred and he was very loud. The monster that scared Sam into a divorce was making its appearance.

Josh stood and kept Melody close. "What the fuck? No! We're not doing that!" He snapped.

Danny attempted to stand, but had a very tough time keeping his footing. Now his eyes had changed to the crimson red without going back. "Then what good are either of you, you stupid fucking kids. Hit a deer on the way home and die for all I fucking care. Shit! Shit! Shit!" He yelled out and tried kicking the pile of debris he'd collected earlier, only to lose balance and fall backwards. Hitting his head on the concrete and passed out.

Seeing an opportunity, the kids quickly ran out of there and back to the truck. This was the last time they'd try to party with someone they thought was their hero.


	8. Eight

**It's a small update, but here's an update.**

* * *

Chester's Buick pulled up to the mansion, bumping and rattling over the unmanaged old driveway that was as good as gravel with potholes at this point. If they had arrived moments earlier, they would've crossed paths with the old farm truck that went speeding out of the drive just ten minutes ago. There was, however, an unusual sight coming from the backyard. What looked like a roaring bonfire and very loud music playing that Vlad didn't recognize.

"I guess Danny Phantom likes Ke$ha?" Chester commented as they got out of the vehicle.

Vlad frowned, but took a deep breath. The only thing he could do was trust Danny to not draw too much attention with his partying. Then he glanced over the roof of the car at Chester. "Is that a new music genre?"

Chester smiled and walked around the car. "You could put it that way."

"I've heard worse." Vlad shrugged. "Anyway, follow me down to the lab and I'll show you what I've been working on." He waved for Chester to follow and started towards the house.

"Oh boy!" Chester smiled, but he froze in his tracks when three ghostly images appeared sitting on the gate just feet from them. "V-Vlad… do you see that?" He pointed to them.

Vlad looked up and froze too. But with a closer examination, their forms became more familiar. "Chester… I think they're my pets…?"

The birds seemed to stare right through Vlad, then began arguing among each other. "No way that can be him!" One shouted. Another recoiled, "Of course it is him. Can't you read the energy, ya dolt!" And this carried on until Vlad approached them.

"It's me… Are you here for revenge?" Vlad asked sadly. Seeing them, of course he missed them, but perhaps they were as angry as all the other spirits?

They looked at Vlad again and tilted their heads. "Revenge? You're our Master. We've only been looking all over for you since we felt you come back to Earth?!"

They were looking for him. They were still loyal after everything he'd done. "I'm here now. I'm sorry…" Vlad felt the tears threatening to escape, but he held them back and smiled. Then, with a calming breath, Vlad looked back to Chester. "These are my pets." His girlish voice squeaked.

"Take it easy with the "pets" usage." One of the vultures commented.

Vlad felt so happy, their comment only made him smile more.

Chester felt more okay around them, but he wasn't used to seeing ghosts up close. "As long as they don't attack me."

"Only if Vlad wants us to." Another vulture said to that. Then another spoke up. "So when were you going to tell us about the turning into a girl? And making friends? What is this?"

"I promise I will explain it to you three, but for now, I'm taking Chester down to the lab so I can show him my research." Vlad answered and began walking towards the house again.

As the group walked, the largest buzzard said to one of the others, "I hope he noticed how hard we worked to clean up his lab with Danny? There was a lot of junk." The other bird replied, "You're junk." Then it snickered.

"What are you guys talking about?" Vlad asked curiously.

"Oh, you'll see Master. Danny told us what you needed done to help you out." The buzzard coughed.

When the lab was in sight, Vlad opened the large door and showed them inside. It was a bit dark and dusty, but it was worth everything to Vlad. Looking around, Chester marveled at the lab, but Vlad seemed to pause in the middle of the room, going into a silent panic. "Where's… the generator… and my laptop…?" He asked.

The vultures were quick to answer this question for him. "Danny told us you wanted it gone so we helped him get rid of it." Another spoke. "Took them to the pawn shop."

"Danny… pawned… my equipment?" Vlad's eye twitched.

Worried Vlad would go into another panic attack, Chester put a hand on Vlad's shoulder. "Everything will be alright. We can buy that stuff back from the pawn shop tomorrow."

"Danny said you wanted us to do this. Even that you wanted him to take the money and load up on beer and liquor." The old vulture spoke again.

There was what felt like a long silence before Vlad shouted, feeling the blood in his veins boil. "He did what?! I'll never get out of this body without that equipment! I'll fucking kill him! I'll fucking-"

"Stop!" Chester shouted back, interrupting him. "Don't fight him! You'll be found out and everyone will think you're still evil! Don't ruin what you've got!"

Being the voice of reason that he needed and seeing the concern in Chester's eyes, helped Vlad calm down slightly. But he was still angry. "Fine… I won't, fight him. But you're not going to stop me from going out there and giving that bastard a piece of my mind." Vlad pulled away from Chester and marched out of the lab to go find Danny.

Chester chased after Vlad, still afraid for what this confrontation would bring.


	9. Nine

The night air was crisp and cool in Wisconsin that night. Stars twinkled above and the sounds of frogs and crickets gave life to the thick forest that surrounded the estate. Under normal circumstances, it would've remained this way, but there was no enjoyment to have as the wind of confrontation swept in in the form of Vlad. So angry with Danny that he glowed a neon pink against the darkness. The half-specter approached quickly, only to discover the pitiful sight of his half-ghost counterpart in a drunken uber.

Danny laid flat on the ground. The fire put out by his own ice. Clutching a bottle of whisky, he stared up into the heavens, almost in a trance. But it was the blur brought on by the high levels of alcohol in his system. Danny was awake, but numb, moved, but uncaring. It didn't even bother him in the slightest that insects of the night crawled their way over him and back into the dirt and grass. He honestly could barely feel them. Once again, Danny failed to fill the void and was left feeling emptier than ever before.

"You asshole!" Vlad shouted, running up to the motionless man and fighting back every urge he had to kick him in the face. It didn't matter to Vlad why Danny was lying on the ground in the dark, he only needed him to listen.

There was no verbal reply from Danny. Only a glance. He could hear Vlad yelling, but what he was yelling about didn't register in his mind that was slowly beginning to black out.

"Answer me you pathetic piece of shit! Do you have any idea what you've done?!" Vlad now screamed. "Weeks of research, the chance to fix my body, all gone now because of you!"

Still, there was no actual answer from Danny, but he managed up a shrug before closing his eyes and letting himself drift off. This answer, however, wasn't sufficient enough for Vlad.

"Answer me now or I swear I'll… I'll…" Vlad went ghost and began to float up as his spiritual energy pulsed all around him in a furious rage. But before Vlad could do anything he would later regret, a hand reached out and took hold of his. A hand that radiated with a kind warmth that brought Vlad back down from nearly attacking Danny. It was Chester, who had finally caught up to him.

"Please don't hurt him?" Chester begged.

"Why not? He betrayed my trust and set me back in my goals." In a somber tone, Vlad spoke while staring down at Danny who had passed out on them at this point. "Just like he always does…"

Moving to Vlad's side, Chester looked down at the man who was praised as Earth's savior. Loved by everyone and his own childhood hero. But that wasn't what Chester now saw without seeing him through the lense of a tv screen. This was a sick man that possibly needed just as much, if not more, help than Vlad did. "Go easy on him?" Chester asked. "I feel bad for him."

"I don't see how you can ask me to pity someone who put themselves into this situation. I expect him to answer for what he's done to me and I expect you to be on my side." Vlad finally looked at Chester with ghostly pink eyes.

"I'm not taking sides." Chester countered.

Vlad crossed his arms over his well hidden breasts. "He stole from me, he doesn't get a free pass. End of that discussion."

Chester sighed. "Sure, Vlad." He then leaned down and took the bottle of whisky from Danny's hand and began draining it into the grass. "Then at least wait and talk to him when he's sobered up, so that you don't get angry over his lack of responses. Is that fair?"

"Yes." Vlad nodded. "But he'll never sober up with all the alcohol he's bought."

"He will if we dump it." Chester replied seriously. "All of it."

Vlad had to hand it to his friend, that was a good idea and maybe it would be doing Danny a favor? He had to take a moment to appreciate what a good-hearted person his new friend was. Finally calmed down, Vlad rested his forehead suddenly against Chester's chest. "Why must you be such a compelling voice of reason?"

"Because I know what it's like to be in a crappy situation and I like to help people." Chester smiled and gave Vlad a big crushing hug.

This moment made Vlad truly thankful that such a good friend came into his life at the best possible time.

When the hugging was out of the way and the two friends were ready, they managed through combined effort to pick up Danny and carry him into one of the mansion's many bedrooms, so he could rest. Once they were sure he was tucked in and completely out, they proceeded to sneak through the entire estate and pour every last drop of alcohol they could find, down the kitchen sink. To make sure this worked, Vlad even parted with the expensive wine collection that had been left behind years ago. Nothing could be left to temp Danny. Their final move was sneaking back into the bedroom of the sleeping hero and swipe his wallet. Chester decided to take it with him so that Danny didn't have access to buying more alcohol and Vlad agreed it was for the best. They were determined to force Danny into sobriety so that he could be held accountable for his actions and hopefully have a better outlook on life.

With a hug and an agreement to meet up the next day, Chester headed home for the night. Vlad knew some sleep would help, but it was hard to rest knowing that the key to his perfected metamorphosis was now gone. All thanks to the drunk passed out upstairs. A heavy sigh and Chester's words still in mind, Vlad went upstairs to the room to watch over Danny. Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, he pet through the man's hair, remembering the innocent boy he used to be. "What happened to you, Daniel?" He whispered into the darkness with no answer.

As the night flowed into morning, Vlad had fallen asleep on the bed next to Danny. The sun rose, as did the temperature in the room. The boarded up windows once again blocking the air from freely venting in and out of the room. Danny was the first to wake up. Stomach in knots and his head pounding. Surely it had been another night of heavy partying.

"I hate this stuffy old place so much…" He groaned, not noticing Vlad beside him until he stretched and his hand met with the soft body of a woman sleeping beside him. Quickly, Danny sat up and looked over to see Vlad curled up on the edge of the bed. As much as he tried to remember, Danny had no idea why Vlad would be sleeping with him, but they were both clothed. So at least he was certain they didn't have sex.

The last thing Danny could recall from the night before was laying outside in the grass and looking up at the stars. It was a nice memory considering he remembered things not going as planned with the teens he invited over to party with. As for Vlad, his best guess was that they were talking and both just passed out.

Too sweaty to stay in the bed, Danny got up and stretched fully again. There was one quick cure for his hangover that he knew of. Drinking more. So with a huff, he looked around the room for his loose bottle of whisky or the vodka. Maybe the beer?

Nothing stashed under the bed. Nothing in the dressers or the closet. Danny was puzzled, but shrugged. It could have been placed in a different room entirely. He wouldn't've put it past the vultures to put his alcohol in the wrong place. So with a shrug, he went intangible and floated through the mansion, bedroom to bedroom, looking for his precious treasure. But with each room, there was no sign of anything. The house was completely clean. Nothing outside. Not even anything in the wine cellar.

In his search, one thing had caught his attention. The smell of alcohol that came from the kitchen sink. It was there that Danny discovered the hidden trash bags full of the empty bottles and cans. "Vlad…" He growled through his teeth. Infuriated that Vlad would dump out his alcohol. The one thing he needed to be okay.

Nearly blinded by his growing rage, Danny flew back upstairs to Vlad who was still asleep. Without warning, without a second thought, without someone to hold him back, Danny let loose his fist and punched Vlad right in the face.

Vlad woke up with a loud yelp, holding his face and writhing in pain. "Danny?! Why?!" He cried out as his face swelled and his nose trickled a little blood.

"You dumped it down the sink! All of it!" He shouted back.

It was hard to open his eyes through the involuntary tears. "I was trying to help you!"

"You call taking away the thing I need to be okay, helping me?!"

"You did the same to me…" Vlad's female body couldn't handle pain like he could before and it was impossible to stop himself from sobbing.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Danny asked, taking a step back.

Vlad rubbed his eyes and looked at Danny, suddenly afraid when he seen the red eyes. The eyes of a ghost giving in to their darkest nature. "You stole the thing I needed to be okay… You're out of control, Danny!"

That was more than he wanted to hear. Danny heard those words from his ex-wife and now Vlad too. But they wouldn't understand. No one could possibly understand, he thought to himself. "Shut the fuck up!" He shouted. "I don't need to hear that from a fuckup like you! I don't give a shit about your problems, I've got my own to deal with!"

"Drinking isn't dealing with anything…" Vlad muttered.

"That's it!" Danny snapped before taking a deep breath and unleashing his Ghostly Wail on Vlad. Loud enough that it caused the entire mansion to rumble to its foundation. The clicking sound of glass windows cracking and mirrors snapping. Vlad went ghost and tried his hardest to stand up to it. Using all of his strength, but it wasn't enough to fight back against Phantom's most powerful move. And it was apparent that over the years, Danny had become much more powerful than he used to be. Despite using all he had in him, Vlad couldn't hold up against it and it broke through him. Splitting his eardrums as it sent him flying back against the wall and forced out of his ghost form.

When he was finally finished, Danny leaned on his knees and breathed heavily, letting loose all of his frustration into that wail. He then looked over to Vlad who had collapsed onto the floor and passed out. The attack had been too much for him. Without a word, or even checking to see if Vlad was okay, Danny left the mansion in search of some alcohol to curb his craving.


End file.
